The process was simple enough, considering there was only one place in town who offers the scan. It happened to be in the same building and is connected with my orthopedist's practice, so I was comfortable with going there as it's a nice facility with a professional staff. It was easy to call and make my appointment - the cost was $100 for the first scan, and $75 for a second scan if you wanted to have one later to see any changes that you might have made as a result of the first scan.
I was told to wear clothing that didn't have metal in it, and to leave off jewelry; I was expecting to have to remove my bra once I got there because of the metal hooks but the technician said that wasn't necessary, so all I did was remove my shoes, climb up on the table, and get scanned.
The table looked like a standard X-ray table, with the scanner above it. I didn't think to take pictures because I was too busy asking questions about the process, which my technician answered in detail, but here's a picture of the machine:
Thank you Google for this image.
I laid on my back and the technician aligned my body along a center line; once that was done he gave my feet a tug and strapped them together at the ankle. I was to hold still and the scan began, starting at my head and working down my body. Once the scanner was past my hips I could relax my arms, which was nice. The scan took about 10 minutes, and it wasn't noisy at all, unlike an MRI or even a CT - and is it sad that I know what both of those machines sound like? I digress.
Afterward, I sat up and the report was generated and printed so the technician could go over the results with me right away. I liked that this was a one-visit experience and didn't have to wait for the results.
The results: My bones are good! Yipee!! I kind of though that they would be in decent shape based on genetics - my mother, grandmother, and grandma don't/didn't have any osteoporosis issues, but you never know when a rogue gene will pop up with crumbly bones. This scan provided BMD (bone mineral density) analysis for the entire body and broke it down by region (head, arms, legs, trunk, ribs, spine, and pelvis). Bone strength is done with an age-matched comparison, and I was in the 99% percentile, so I feel pretty good about that. If this scan had shown some red flags in any of the areas, or the total number, I would need to have a separate scan that concentrated on those areas.
The DEXA scan also provides results and analysis for a number of other things, which I'll list below:
RMR (resting metabolic rate): The minimum number of calories my body needs daily, at rest. The number - 1,506 - is an estimate and one that I suspect is too high for me - if I ate 1,500 calories daily along with all of the workouts and running I'm doing, I don't think anything would change for me except for becoming more compact as my muscle mass increases.
Body Fat: The report provides both a total percentage number, as well as mass (weight), lean tissue and fat tissue. I have more lean tissue than fat, woohoo! I also saw my weight, which I haven't seen in many years - it's not as bad as I thought, although I will say that I've gone down a pant size since I started workout out at BCS Fitness so that is probably a contributing factor.
VAT (visceral adipose tissue): Fat that is associated with obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Considering that even when I was at my lowest weight after my big weight loss my stomach was still blobby, it didn't surprise me to see this result was considered unhealthy.
Muscle Balance Report: I'm unbalanced, what else is new? Oh, not just mentally, LOL - my left arm is stronger (I'm left-handed) but my right leg is stronger, which is probably due to the calf muscle tear in my left leg: I'm able to work it as much as the right leg now, so that should probably sort itself out soon enough.
This was an interesting experience - I didn't pay too much attention to the actual numbers and percentages presented to me in the post-scan report, because my brain pretty much glosses over numbers, but it was a good bit of information to get, especially considering that I've started doing my intense workouts again. I'll get my second scan in four to six months and report back with any changes that might happen.
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